For the first time ever the Santiago del Teide Lions Club, the Asociacion de San Francisco de Los Animales – Santiago del Teide branch and the San Juan Asociacion got together and organised the biggest Christmas fair Los Gigantes has ever seen.

There was tombola, cakes, bric brac, crafts, clothes and many games to occupy the children as well as the Carnival bar raising funds for next year’s carnival.

The biggest problem all the organisers had to cope with were the dozens of people who could not wait for opening time, they all wanted to be first in the queue for a bargain.

Lion President Mary Thomson opened the fair and over the next two hours, despite the concern over looming of black clouds and a few spots of rain, the various charities raised over €3000 between them for their various causes.

Then in the evening the fund raising continued when the Lions kicked off their Grand Christmas raffle. There are cash prizes of 1st €500 2nd €300 and 3rd €200 to be drawn in the Los Gigantes Plaza on 23rd Dec in the Los Gigantes square after their walk about carol singing. To assist with the fund raising Santiago del Teide Council organised various superb entertainers in the church square for the early part of the evening then from 10pm – 2am Viana Shows took over and hosted an amazing variety of acts, including Hot Ice, Scheherazade, Ian Anderson, Glam Slam and Helen Dixon – Pride, who kept the audience glued to their seats, until they could resist no longer and had to get up and join in the dancing.

For the first time ever the whole show went live via Power FM radio to all seven Canary Islands, as well as being broadcasted worldwide on their web site.

During the show Lions members Mary, Lizzy, Sheila and Monica, in their superb outfits, raised over €1000 in raffle ticket sales and donations.

If you didn’t get your ticket there’s still plenty time. They can be purchased from any Lion member. They are on sale at MDI in Alcala and also in the losgigantes.com office in El Varadero and the ladies will be calling into many bars during the run up to the draw.

There are many more photos, in two files, one of the daytime fair and the other of the evening entertainment, in the photo galleries. Click this link. http://www.losgigantes.com/pictures/

Nov 08

21

Eleven members of an organised crime gang, all Romanian and living in the south of Tenerife, have been arrested by the National Police and charged with robberies of several jewellery shops. One of the shops raided was believed to be in Los Gigantes on November 8th , when the thieves evaded capture and got away with a large number of cigarettes.

The investigation, “Operation Brasov”, which commenced in October led to several house raids and the arrests.

During the raids the gang had tried to dispose of their haul by throwing it out of the window. It was picked up by police and around 1,800 items of jewellery were confiscated, at an estimated value of 155,000 Euros. According to a police spokesperson the goods amounted to a virtual Aladdin’s cave of stolen goods, there was 8,200g of precious stones, perfumes, tobacco, and clothes.

The daring thieves even robbed the same Las Americas jewellery shop twice, escaping with 70,000 Euros worth of goods the first time and 85,000 Euros the second time.

Oct 08

31

The Santiago del Teide Branch of Lions certainly have no time to laze around.

On 21st October a surprise phone call “Hi, I’d like to give you €500 for the Lions club”. It was John Sharples from the Comedy act ‘Bitter and Twisted’. “We need you to come and collect it”.

On 23rd October New member Sheila Lee Peg was badged up by President Mary Thomson at their club meeting this month.

On 25th October the Club visited the Ladies handicapped centre in Santiago del Teide to hand over a cheque to Mother Superior. The money had been raised in the Lions Grand Summer raffle.

Then on the 26th October it was time for the Lions and friends to let their hair down for a fun day with their annual treasure hunt where 6 teams battled it out for the Ralf Jennings memorial Trophy.
You can read the full stories of all events on the Lions web site

…………and the work does not stop there. Make a note in your diaries Sat Nov 22nd. The day starts with their Christmas Fair at 12:30 where they join forces with other local charities. In the early part of the evening entertainment is being organised by the Carnival Commission. Then at 10pm – 2am the lions team up with Viana shows to bring you all an amazing variety of entertainment which will be taken live by the Power FM Road Show to all seven Islands.

Oct 08

31

It’s the time of year again when we all need to be on the lookout for the injured chicks of the Pardela Cenicienta, (Cory’s Shearwater in English).

These birds are protected in the Canary Islands and the Medio Ambiente will arrange to collect any injured bird which is reported to them. The birds will be cared for, and those which recover will be ringed and set free.

The cliffs of Los Gigantes are an ideal nesting place for these birds however, there are dangers too. These birds fly at night, you’ll probably not see them but we hear their calls. The fledgelings get confused by the street lighting when they fly over Los Gigantes and often crash land, stunning or injuring themselves . This leaves them prey for cats and dogs.

This is where you can help if you come across one. Carefully catch the bird and put it in a box, as they are usually stunned youngsters they can be caught fairly easily! (We had an amusing time last year when we found one in our swimming pool. It took two of us in the pool at midnight to catch it. Fortunetely it seemed to be only stunned).

Keep the bird in a dark place until morning, there is no need to attempt to give it food or water. Take it to the local police station where they will arrange for it to be picked up by the Medio Ambiente.

Oct 08

20

Chaos is expected this week in Los Gigantes while the Ayuntamiento resurface the road. There will be no parking between Calle Tabaiba and Calle Tamara while the work is being carried out. Work is expected to be completed by Friday 24th Oct.

The Department of Tourism of Santiago del Teide, together with the Cabildo Insular de Tenerife and the Department of Culture organized a series of events over the weekend to celebrate Dia del Tourista – Tourists Day, which were enjoyed by both tourists and residents.

The activities began with a show of Canarian products. Then later in the day Canarian folklore groups “Tayme” and “Breezes of Arguayo” entertained guests of hotels and apartments as they toured the streets from Playa Arena to Los Gigantes.

The main event was held last Saturday evening in the Plaza, Los Gigantes. The night started with a show of local products, and then the audience was entertained with performances from several Canarian folklore groups.

The evening ended with many lively songs from “Dogs Old New Tricks” who very quickly had the majority of the audience on their feet dancing.

Sep 08

29

The Flipper Uno, one of the dolphin spotting boats which departs from Los Gigantes twice daily made an unusual discovery on one of their trips recently.

Erik Bos, one of the crew members of Flipper Ono, whose job it is to spots the dolphins and chat to the passengers about their daily lives and habits, noticed that one of the dolphins alongside the boat was acting in an unusual way. After a few moments of observation he noticed that she was giving birth as she followed the boat. Quick thinking he grabbed his camera and took a couple of shots before the boat changed course and left her in peace.

The boat’s captain, Jennifer Dubbelaar sent the photographs to a biologist who confirmed that as far as they were aware, they were the first recorded photographs of a dolphin giving birth in the wild.

Sep 08

26

Santiago del Teide council are organising several fun events today and tomorrow to celebrate Dia del Tourista – International Day of the Tourist.

The celebrations begin this morning Fri 26th Sept 2008 at 10.30 with a show of Canarian products as well as Canarian folklore music and entertainment in the streets of Playa Arena.

This evening from 17:30 Folklore Canaria, in their traditional Canarian costumes, will be entertaining in hotels and apartments in the area.

Tomorrow evening Sat 27th Sept 2008 from 8pm in the plaza – Los Gigantes there will be a show of Canarian products as well as more performances of Canarian folklore music. The evening will end with entertainment from a well know local duo “Old Dogs, New tricks”